Rainy Summer
by violad3r
Summary: Annabeth Chase is one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood. Percy Jackson is a famous model, but is now debuting to his first main character role in the blockbuster movie 'Rainy Summer'. What will happen when they both star in the same movie? They quickly bwcome best friends - just because their characters are a couple, doesn't mean that they have to be one. Right?
1. Chapter 1

**Annabeth**

"Annabeth Chase?"

I hesitate. The voice sounds strangely familiar, but I can't put my finger on who it is.

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Mike Newman, from the 'Rainy Summer' casting."

"Oh!" I put down the kitchen knife and wipe my hands on my apron. Tonight was Wednesday and it's my cooking night, so I decided to make an Indian curry. Currently I was cutting up the herbs, but the sudden call had interrupted that. "Hello. How are you?"

Mike chuckles. "I'm good, thank you. I just wanted you to know that we have decided to grant you the role of Serena in the movie."

I freeze. "Seriously? Oh my Gods! I… can I call you back?"

"Sure."

"Thank you! Bye!"

I hang up and stand still for a second. Then I scream and run through the house, jumping and singing. _I got the role! I got the role! Oh my Gods, I actually got the role! _

"Annabeth, what the hell is going on? I mean, your curry can't be _that _good?" my dad comes out from his office, eyebrows raised. I embrace him, laughing. I've never been so pumped about a role before.

"Dad, I got the part in 'Rainy Summer'!"

"_No? _Really?" he hugs me tightly. "Congratulations, Annabeth!"

I give him a huge grin. "I'll quickly call back and talk to Mike about it, okay?"

"And then – we're going to celebrate!"

I wiggle my eyebrows. "Can we go to that Ethiopian restaurant – Aiko?"

"Aiko it is," he smiles.

I give another little hop and do a little dance, which he laughs at and then I hurry into the kitchen. Luckily, I had only just started making my curry, so I stuffed the ingredients into the freezer so that I could use them tomorrow.

After a quick call to Mike, I get dressed and follow my dad to the car. Every time I've landed a role in the past five years, we've gone to Aiko. The food is delicious and the people who work there are so kind, so we always want to support them in any way possible.

As soon as we open the door, Amanuel comes running up to us. "Which role is it, Ms. Annabeth?"

I smile at him and give him a small hug. "Lola in 'Rainy Summer'."

He claps his hands, ecstatically. "I was hoping you would get that role!"

He shows us to a table and hands us the menu. "Thanks, Amanuel," my dad grins. He's almost as happy as I am.

"Where do you want to go after this?" my dad asks me. He knows that we can't stay here for long, since the photographers will bombard the place.

"Just… home, I think."

"I could get us some movies."

I wink at him. "And some Ben & Jerries."

"You're a genius."

I laugh. "Why thank you, Mr. Chase, that is a very kind compliment."

"What are you having?"

I read through the menu, which is unnecessary because I know it by heart. "I'm having an African Chicken in Spicy Red Sauce and a tomato and cucumber salad."

"Of course you are. I think I might have the same. Amanuel?"

Amanuel is there in a split second. "Water for Ms. Chase," he winks at me. I always get the same thing. "Ginger Ale for Mr. Chase. And to eat?"

We order and the food arrives twenty minutes later. Later, my dad gets Tom Cruise movies and I lit my scented candles and switch on my fairy lights. We watch movies and eat cookie dough ice cream until 1 am, where my dad finally forces me to go to bed with a cup of steaming detox tea and 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. I fall asleep at 3 am, happier than ever and excited for the days to come.

**Percy**

"What? Percy, honey, that's great!" my mom cups my face and gives me a big hug.

I smile, happy that my career and success is making her so happy. I normally don't act, but since I work half time as a lifeguard, I decided to audition for the role of Casper in 'Rainy Summer'. Strangely enough, I actually got the part. Obviously I was thrilled, but there was just one obstacle.

"What's going on?" Gabe walks out of the kitchen. He's wearing a white tank top, that's splattered with ketchup and beer. He hasn't shaved for months and his jeans are beginning to get a little bit too tight around his butt, since he's not really the sporty kind of guy.

My mom immediately steps away and stares at her shoes. Gabe walks up to me. "I asked you a question."

"Just… the role I auditioned for – I got it."

"Well, that's nice. Now you can pay _all _of our rent."

I glare at him and try to step closer, so that I seem bigger and more powerful. "As long as you keep your filthy hands off my mom."

He hesitates and I can feel that he's about to hit me, but then he just chuckles and turns around. "You can only control me why you're here."

"If that's the case you can move onto the streets," I growl.

"Perce," my mom warns.

Gabe turns around. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

Gabe glares at me, but then he stomps into the kitchen probably to get another beer. My mom looks at me, eyes wide with fear, "Percy, you can't talk to him like that. He'll hurt you."

"Pack your bags, we're leaving."

"What? No, Percy, this apartment has too many memories, besides Gabe –"

"Mom, if you're trying to tell me that you love him, I don't give a shit. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not. He's using you and he's abused you and it's over."

She looks at the floor. "I'm not in love with him, Percy. I'm in debt."

"_What?"_

She shakes her head. "I shouldn't have told you. It's just – I know that you would want to pay that debt for me, but I don't want you to. This is my mess."

"Don't be stupid. You could just pay me back when you get the money, but I'm not leaving you here with him."

She hugs me. "I'm sorry that I keep on dragging you into this mess. Even now, when you just got this great role in that movie… Percy, I just want you to be happy."

"I'm not going to be happy, if I know that you might be in danger."

She looks up at me, eyes wet. "If it makes you happy, I'll come."

I sigh, relieved. "Thank the Gods. Pack your bags and I'll distract him. But hurry, mom. And take all of your money, I don't want him left with anything."

"Percy, that's heartless. You may be more successful, but I'm still your mom and I want to raise you with mercy. We're going to give him some of the money."

"Mom –"

"This isn't a discussion that we're having, honey, I've made my decision. Gabe has been good to us, when you were younger."

"That has absolutely nothing to do with it!"

She sends me a warning look. "Percy. Now, meet me here in ten minutes. And if anything happens, I want you to run. Don't wait for me, don't try and save me – do we have an agreement?"

"M –"

"Do we have an agreement?"

"Nothing's going to happen," I promise her.

She closes her eyes. "_Do we have a _–"

"Yes!"

She kisses my cheek. "I'll see you in ten minutes."

I grin at my doorman, my mom millimetres behind me. "This was a bad idea, Percy."

"Mom," I turn and give her a serious look. "Please just stop. Nothing can harm you here and I have one of the best alarm systems in all of New York."

She gives a small laugh, as we take the elevator up to my pent house. She barely ever visits me here, since Gabe never allows her to. "Oh. Percy, this is beautiful."

I smile at her and feel a little awkward. I had paid their rent, but it didn't really make a difference since Gabe made the apartment look like the streets. My mom sits down in one of the couches.

She gives me a sly smile. "I _could _get used to this."

I grin. "Well, you better, because you're not going back to him."

"You know, Percy," she leans back and closes her eyes, suddenly looking older again. "I need to work to pay off that debt. I don't want you to pay it."

"If I pay it he'll stop looking for us, mom. And then you can pay me back when you've worked for a bit. Can't you see that you're making this a whole lot harder?"

She gets up and hugs me from behind. "I'm sorry, Percy. I'm tired."

We hold eye contact for a second, then I lead her down the hall way to a room where she can sleep. "It'll all work out," she promises me.

I nod and give her my best smile, before closing the door. Finally I have time to concentrate on the E-Mail, that had been the positive thing my day had started on.

**Perseus Jackson,**

**We are happy to inform you that you have landed the role of Casper in the new teen romance movie 'Rainy Summer'. An E-Mail with the information about the filming etc. will be sent shortly.**

**Congratulations!**

**Mike Newman, JellyButter Productions**

I read through the mail a couple of times and couldn't help but chuckle at the name of the studio. Apropos, I really felt like Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. While I smeared the peanut butter onto a piece of whole grain bread, I considered the options of whom I could be playing the role with. I knew that Annabeth Chase had been considered and Jennifer Lawrence, plus hundreds of other stars. In these 'book to movie' adaptations the casting always took forever, since so many wanted to audition. I boiled some water to make a coffee and then sat down to read/watch a daily dose of gossip on ClevverTV and websites. Call me self-obsessed (yes, I often looked at the stories about myself… No shame, man) or a stalker, but I liked to stay updated. Charles, my manager had even found me some sites that were 100% reliable, so I liked to catch up on celebrity news.

I googled 'roles in Rainy Summer'. Hundreds of those 'my dream cast' videos popped up and I noticed my name quite a few times. Finally I found one that looked like it would match what I was looking for.

It had been posted twenty minutes ago and already had 3,897 views. Jesus.

_**Roles for the upcoming movie 'Rainy Summer' already chosen?**_

_There have been rumours, we assure you! _Everyone _is excited for this movie to come out, thanks to the interesting and strange story of the 19-year old Serena, who spends her summer in Bali where she stumbles upon the good looking life guard, Casper. Soon they fall in love, but… We don't want to spoil anything! Anyway hot news is that the roles for the most important characters have already been chosen!_

_Who do you think will be playing Serena? _

_It's Annabeth Chase! This girl has really gotten to the top of the Hollywood show biz, and she is kicking some ass! _

"_We saw Annabeth in 'With A Flower In Her Hair' and she had everyone convinced in a matter of seconds," casting director Anna Helmut reveals. "She matches the physical appearance perfectly and her personality goes great with Serena. We invited her for a casting and she was quickly chosen – she was very open and funny, not scared to show what she was into, just like Serena!"_

_And for Casper? It must be hard to find good looking, talented actors… right? No!_

_Percy Jackson!_

_Acting? Percy? What? Of course we all know him as a model, the face of Hugo Boss… but believe it or not, he has actually starred in movies before! He played the oh-so mysterious Joshua in 'Glitché' which was a huge success, and this is apparently where he was noticed to play the funny, but shy Casper Lowell. _

_We're very excited to see these two in this movie! _

_More on the next rundown._

I couldn't help but smile. Annabeth and I had met twice – once at the 2014 Met Gala and once at Elton John's New Years party 2015, which was only a month ago. Still the most recent one had been brief, since she was babysitting her younger siblings. That had been cute – I mean, how many Hollywood stars leave Elton John's party to take care of their small brothers? I had her number and all, but we never hung out, even though I don't really know why. Maybe I had enough to see to with Gabe and my mom and she with her new make up collection and stuff. I honestly don't know.

Suddenly my phone vibrated, right in the second I had taken a bite of my sandwich and also clicked Netflix, to catch up on the latest episodes of 'Game of Thrones'.

It was from Annabeth. **Oioioioioooo, we're playing lovers on an upcoming movie? Heard the news?**

I grinned. We didn't know each other that well, but she still had a way of making me feel comfortable. **Actually, I have. Read it on some news article – they call me good looking. Am I good looking?**

I started the show only to be interrupted twenty seconds later: **Don't flatter yourself, Percy. R U excited?**

**Yeah. Did you celebrate?**

**Dad + me went to out to eat. U?**

**Not really. Just at home.**

**You live in NY, don't you?**

**Yeah**

**I'm flying over tomorrow. Maybe we could grab something to eat?**

**Sure. Why R U coming?**

**Filming starts in two week and I want time to go sightseeing**

**U've never been to NYC? :o**

**Sure.**

**The ESB never gets old**

**Serious?**

**Call me a nerd, but I love architecture. **

**Nerd**

**Ha-Ha. **

**Anyway, I'm going to catch up on homework**

**?**

**I'm studying!**

**Nerd**

**Shut up**

**:D**

**Well U have fun, I'm going to catch up on the latest seasons of Game of Thrones. When do U land tomorrow?**

**GOT is soooo addicting, man. I land at 11 am**

**Meet me at my house at 11:30?**

**See U then **

I turned off my phone and started the series again, but it was hard to concentrate since lots of things were going on in my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Percy**

She was twenty minutes late. I glanced at my Marc Jacobs watch for the third time and it read 11:50. No texts or calls since yesterday, so I assumed that the plans weren't off.

Finally a black, sleek limousine pulled up in front of me and Annabeth stepped out, cheeks flushed. Three motorcycles with paparazzi were close behind and were taking photos, even before their bike had stopped.

Annabeth spotted me and grinned, hugging me. "Long time, no see!" she smiled. Then her expression turned serious again. "I'm really sorry that I'm late, but my plane wasn't allowed to land before this big jet full of passengers on their way to Kentucky or something. I think they needed to crash land, so I just –"

"You don't need to apologise," I grinned. She gave me a smile and seemed relieved. She was wearing a stripy, long-sleeved loose fitting shirt, paired with simple black jeans that showed off her toned legs. Also, she was wearing a pair of heeled boots, little owl ear studs and a golden necklace. Her hair was curly and in a bun, but most of it had fallen out and was framing her face nicely.

"I saw this cute café going here – do you want to go there?"

I nodded. Luckily both of us had lots of experience with ignoring the photographers, so even when more and more of them showed up Annabeth acted totally naturally and only glanced at them once or twice.

"How are you?"

I thought about Gabe, my mom, me paying their rent and Gabe's many threats. "I'm fine. A lot going on, but I'm excited for the movie."

"Gods, me too! Serena is really the _dream _character. She's not traumatised or has depression like many of the roles I've played – I'm getting a little sick of playing someone hurt, since I'm totally happy in real life."

"I can tell," I laughed.

She punched my arm playfully. "No, but seriously – playing someone who doesn't have lots of problems will be a good change. I'm sorry, we totally left the subject behind."

"What was the subject?"

"You, not me," she smiled. "I've heard that you swim?"

"Occasionally, but it's hard to find time now."

She nodded. "I totally understand. I used to do nothing but design buildings in my free time and now I haven't even sketched anything in a month."

"Oh, yeah, you texted me that you like architecture last night! Is that what you're studying too?"

She nodded, while opening the door to a small café, which was nearly empty. The photographers technically weren't allowed to follow us in any where, but they still stayed at the windows and kept clicking the shutters.

"Jesus, how many photos do they need?" Annabeth muttered, while reading through the menu. The guy behind the counter hadn't stopped staring at her and the photographers and then me, but his eyes were mostly glued to the blonde superstar that stood before him.

I chuckled and she sent me a dirty look, but was smiling too.

"I'll have a Green Tea Lemon please," she smiled at the guy and it took him a second to register that.

"Sure. You?" he asked me, while starting to pour the hot water into a cup.

"I'll just have a Chai Latte, please."

He nodded and while he worked, I inspected him more closely. He had curly brown hair and looked like he was Spanish or something like that – definitely not from the freezing winter here in New York, since his skin was darker. He had a devilish grin, like you definitely couldn't trust him with any of your important things and sparkling, young eyes.

"What's your name?" Annabeth suddenly asked. She must've been watching him too, maybe not in the same way I had been. He glanced up and I could see that his cheeks were a little pink.

"Leo," he said, quietly.

"I'm Annabeth and this is Percy," Annabeth introduced us, even though I don't think she needed to. "This is a really nice café."

"Thanks, It's my dad's, I'm just helping out."

"Okay. Do you get a lot of customers?" she asked. I honestly didn't get why she was so eager to talk to him or maybe she was like this with everyone. I mean, back at the Met Gala, when we had met she had already acted like we knew each other for years. It was definitely working – Leo slowly warmed up to us and lost that starstruck facial expression.

"Not really. You guys are the third today."

"Oh, that's weird."

He chuckled. "Why? I mean, it looks a little worn down and old and you really have to look at it to even notice. Besides, we're located right next to Starbucks which isn't really doing anything for the business either."

Annabeth nodded. "So there's not a lot of income?"

Leo sat her tea in front of her and started finishing my latte. He hesitated, before answering. "I mean, it's okay on busy days…"

Annabeth chewed on the inside of her cheek, while watching him make the Chai. Then she turned towards me. "Percy, do you know if the role for Woody has already been chosen?"

I shrugged. "I didn't even know that I had the role before yesterday."

"I don't think he is – I mean, don't they always choose the main characters first? And if we only found out yesterday, then maybe a lot of the smaller roles are still open?"

Leo had lifted his head and was looking at her, inspecting her movements. We both had an idea of why she was bringing this up, but I didn't get why she was doing it here and now and why this guy? She had known him for forty five seconds and all she knew about him was that he worked in a coffee shop!

"You're the actress here."

Annabeth took her tea and slid a piece of paper over the counter. First I thought it was her number or something, but Leo was staring at it in disbelief and it looked strangely familiar. It was the flyer for the Casting.

"But… I'm not an actor?"

"Neither is Percy," Annabeth grinned at me. "But Leo, you match both the physical and the personality descriptions. You _have _to audition!"

"Annabeth," I cut in. "The casting's over tomorrow."

"When are you off today?" she asked Leo, not answering me.

"At 6 pm."

Annabeth took a sip of her tea. "Okay, we'll come pick you up at 6 and then we'll take you to the casting and I'm sure that they'll let you in earlier if you're with us!"

She beamed at us, like her plan was foolproof.

Leo didn't hesitate – who would honestly? "Okay."

Annabeth grinned. "See you then."

Then she pulled me out onto the street, leaving an open mouthed, wide-eyed Leo standing behind the counter. The photographers were immediately at it again, but I was laughing.

"Seriously? That was the weirdest thing _ever._"

She scrunched up her eyebrows, bringing her plastic cup to her lips. "What? Why?"

"You don't just ask people if they would like a role in an upcoming movie!" I spluttered.

"Why not? See, Percy, you should really try and expand your horizon. Give me one valid reason why I shouldn't have just done that."

"I –" but I couldn't find anything to say.

"1) I made someone happy, 2) if he does get the role, he'll come to the set and feel more comfortable and 3) he was _perfect _as Woody. Have you even read the book?"

I glanced at the ground. "I haven't gotten that far yet."

Annabeth laughed. "Seriously?"

She got a lip gloss out of her bag and applied it, making her lips even glossier than they were before. She wasn't wearing a lot of makeup, only a thin line of eyeliner, some shimmering eyeshadow and mascara – and lip gloss, obviously, but I was a guy and I didn't really notice stuff like that.

"Where are we going to go next?"

"Don't you live right around the corner?"

"I do. But…" I was about to say that my mom was there, but then I thought about it and why on earth should I not be allowed to bring home friends, just because my mom was there? It was my penthouse after all and I'm sure that my mom wouldn't have a problem with it.

"But?" she stared at me with her piercing, grey eyes. We had started walking and most of the paparazzi had apparently already gotten what they needed, so they drove off, leaving room for new ones to appear. Gods, this was annoying.

"Never mind. Let's go. My mom's –"

I froze.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, but I didn't explain, I just grabbed her wrist and bolted. My heart was beating a million miles and hour – Gabe _never _left his apartment. There was only one possible reason and that was to find me and my mom or, since my mom didn't live there anymore, go grocery shopping but I seriously doubted that.

"Percy! What's going on? Is it the photographers? Hello?"

I told her to shut up and keep running. We turned around a corner and almost ran into a woman with a pram.

"Sorry!" Annabeth called out. The woman muttered something, but I didn't get to hear that since I kept sprinting. Finally we had run around the block and Annabeth was panting. I muttered a greeting to my door man and, noticing that the situation was urgent, he opened the door quickly. I jogged to the elevator, Annabeth close behind and pressed the top floor button.

"Thank the Gods…" I mumbled.

"What was that about?" she asked me, but she didn't seem mad. "I thought we were fleeing from something or someone, Gods!"

We held eye contact for a second. "We were," I confirmed.

She raised her eyebrows. "Have you gotten involved with a gang?" she asked, disbelief in her voice.

"I wish."

The doors dinged open and I stepped inside, but I could feel Annabeth's eyes piercing my back. She wasn't finished with this conversation, but I was.

"Mom?"

No reply. My heart jumped, until I heard that the shower was on. I took a deep breath of relief.

"Nice place," Annabeth commented. She looked at the view of Central Park and inspected a little elephant figure I had brought from Thailand last year.

"Thanks. Water?"

She had caught her breath again, but nodded, so I filled two big glasses with lemon water from my fridge and handed her one. She threw her bag and jacket on the couch and sat down next to them.

"So… if you're not involved with a gang, then who were we fleeing from?"

I regretted that I had confirmed her suspicions before, but it was too late. "It was just a joke."

"Don't 'it was just a joke' me, Jackson. If you don't want to tell me, then say that instead."

Luckily, she didn't sound mad so it wasn't hard for me to tell her that it was a personal matter. She nodded. I wondered where her plastic cup had gone and realised that she must've dropped it. Then I thought about my latte and noticed that I hadn't seen it since Leo handed it to me. Maybe I forgot it at the café.

"It would be funny if Leo really got the role."

"Apropos, what's the time?" she asked.

"It's only 1:30, Annabeth," I laughed. She grinned.

Suddenly mom came in. She was wearing a dark blue blouse and white jeans, her black curls still wet from the shower. Her slippers were the ones I had in my cupboard for guests – pink and fluffy, with ears and blue, sparkly eyes. The woman in H&M had looked strangely at me, when I purchased them.

"Annabeth, hello!" she smiled broadly, as soon as she spotted Annabeth. They had met briefly last year, since my mom sometimes (when Gabe allowed her to) came to my events. Actually, they had met without me in the lounge, which was funny.

Annabeth got up and gave my mom a big hug. "Hello Sally. How are you?"

"I'm fine," she waved it off, with a brave smile. If Annabeth noticed anything, she didn't show. "It was actually on the news this morning that you two are playing the main characters in 'Rainy Summer'. I take that's why you're here?"

Annabeth nodded. I had gotten up and gave my mom a small hug, but she held on a little tighter than necessary. When she let go, she smiled at both of us and the old energetic before-Gabe Sally Jackson was back. "Are you guys hungry?"

Annabeth and I exchanged looks. "Kind of," I said.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Thank you," she then added.

My mom smiled. "I was going to make pasta for lunch, so I'll make double portion. It's great that you're here, Annabeth! How's your father?"

My mom and Annabeth fell into a conversation and I watched them both, trying not to seem too much like a stalker. Interviews were starting in a couple of days, they always did when the cast was announced and it would also be here where we met the rest of the cast – oh, and we would see if Leo had ended up auditioning and landing the role. That would be amusing, though I doubted it.

Annabeth was truly stunning, but as her good friend I had never _really _thought about it until now, where the sun made her hair look like pure gold and her eyes sparkled, when she laughed showing off her straight, white teeth. My mom was equally beautiful, but it was a different kind of beauty. It was the kind of beauty that you knew had existed once, together with a soul of laughter and happiness and it was _so_ easy to imagine what my mom looked like when she was younger. Especially now that she wasn't around Gabe. That made me think of before. Gods, I had been scared – yes, _scared. _What would he do if he got into the apartment? He had in fact been here twice, once to pick up his rent (it was only because my mom was in hospital at the time – which I hadn't found out about, until three weeks later, when the hospital called me to tell me that she was allowed to leave. Besides, that day had ended horribly anyway. Gabe and I had started to argue, until he punched me in the face. He had tried again, but the alcohol in his blood had gotten him to miss, luckily. Long story short, that was the day when I decided that I wanted my mom to live with me) and the second time was when he came to get money. He had been really drunk and some how he got past Joey, my doorman and wanted money for a beer. Security had brought him out and I'm positive that he had been too drunk then, to remember this place now. Right?

"Percy?" my mom snapped her fingers in front of my face.

Annabeth grinned.

"I'm sorry. I was just…" What was I? Caught up by the thought of my mom marrying an abusive asshole? Yeah. But Annabeth was looking at me expecting an answer, so I shook it off. "Tired."

My mom stroked my hair, gently, so gently that it felt like it had only been a gush of wind, but I knew what it meant. Annabeth was checking her phone. Suddenly, she burst out laughing, making both me and my mom, who had walked over to the counter to boil the pasta, flinch.

"Percy, listen ti this," she said. "_Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase – a new item? The two hotties, both upcoming stars in the movie 'Rainy Summer', exchanged romantic glances and laughs, as they talked over a cup of coffee at the small café 'Valdez' Coffee Beans' in NYC this morning._" Annabeth rolled her eyes at that and despite my grinning in amusement, I urged her to carry on. "_Since they are playing lovers in the movie, maybe this was some sort of a warm up? Of course, just because a girl and a guy hang out does NOT mean they are dating! But we hope to see more of these two in the next couple of months. Vote down below – Yay or Nay?" _

She looked at me.

I stared back.

"Did they _seriously _write 'the two hotties'?" I then smirked, grabbed her phone and read through the article again. I noticed that it was in text format, from somebody else. "Who sent it?"

She waved her hand. "Heaps of people… my manager, saying quote: 'This will be great press material for the movie. Keep hanging out ' and also from my dad, who was making fun of me _and _from Luke, my friend, asking if it was true."

I wiggled my eyebrows. "Is somebody jealous?"

"Luke and I are seriously just friends," she said and there was no emotion behind her voice, whatsoever. Weirdly enough, I felt kind of relieved. I noticed how much I enjoyed hanging out with Annabeth and how little I wanted her to hang out with any other guys.

We talked for a bit and I had to smile every time that she laughed or smiled. Honestly I was a little bit surprised. I didn't even know her that well or that long (at all), but I felt weirdly attracted to her. Okay, that sounded really awkward. Maybe it was one of those things, where you tried to convince yourself you had a crush just so that you could confirm your feelings. But I had absolutely no idea why I was so happy with her. Just friends, I decided.

Finally my mom called out that there was lunch and she went back into her room to work on her book and Annabeth and I ate together.

"Percy!" Annabeth suddenly grabbed my arm, eyes wide. "It's 10 past 6!"

"So?"

"So? We were going to go pick up Leo!"

"I – oh."

Honestly I had completely forgotten about the Spanish guy in the café and I still found Annabeth's idea strange. I had also completely forgotten that _we _were going to take him to the casting, so that he had a better chance, which was, in my opinion, a little bit unfair. Plus. I had been enjoying the movie afternoon with Annabeth, eating Nachos and drinking tea and had no desire to get up and leave my couch.

Still, Annabeth was already getting dressed so there wasn't much I could do. I quickly told my mom and off we were to get Leo to the Casting. Yay for that.


End file.
